


building rope ladders into your heart (climbing hand over hand to get in)

by comically_so (knobblyfruit), knobblyfruit



Category: Pundit RPF, Pundit RPF (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-24
Updated: 2010-10-24
Packaged: 2017-10-18 00:37:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knobblyfruit/pseuds/comically_so, https://archiveofourown.org/users/knobblyfruit/pseuds/knobblyfruit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/earthvsoup/24356.html">you can be my great regret</a>. Anderson tries fix his mistakes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	building rope ladders into your heart (climbing hand over hand to get in)

**Author's Note:**

> Long, pretentious title #2 is from "The Shape I Found You In" by Girlyman.

It's been four days since Anderson left Keith's apartment, and the shame and guilt has formed into something tangible and uneasy in the pit of his stomach. He knows he should, at the very least, call and apologize, but he hasn't been able to. He tells himself it's just because he's been busy, but even he knows how weak that sounds.

He's honestly surprised Keith hasn't found a reason to make him a Worst Person yet. There haven't been any sort of snide remarks about his work or anything. Keith's been keeping just as quiet as he has.

It bothers him more than it should.

He's at the office that Wednesday afternoon, just about to head out for lunch, when his Blackberry rings. His heart skips a beat with the thought that it might be Keith, but it never is.

He smiles when he sees the callerID. "Why, Mr. Colbert, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" he asks the man on the other end.

"You're never this happy when I call you," a dry, non-Stephen voice replies.

Anderson laughs in surprise. "Jon! Why are you using Stephen's phone?"

"He stole mine to call Keith. I've... given up trying to ask, quite frankly."

"Probably a good policy," Anderson comments, ignoring the twist in his gut at the mention of Keith's name. "So, what's up?"

"We were planning on going out for drinks tonight - wanna come?"

"On a Wednesday?"

"Stephen and I are gonna be hanging out at my office after our shows throwing around more ideas for the DC rallies, so we figure we'll need some alcohol afterwards. Stephen should be about ready to climb the walls by the time your show is done."

Anderson bites back a grin. "So, in other words, _you'll_ need some alcohol afterwards."

"Isn't that what I said?" Jon asks, an innocent lilt to his voice.

Before Anderson can respond, Stephen's distant, yet cheerful, voice booms in the background. "Keith says he'll be there!"

Anderson cringes at that, thankful that Jon can't see him.

"Great!" Jon shouts back, though it seems he at least had the presence of mind to not yell directly into the phone. "So Keith will be there, Cooper. What do you say?"

His first instinct is to make up an excuse, because that's just how he rolls. But then he figures that Keith had to have known he would possibly be there, so if Keith apparently doesn't mind seeing him, why should he mind seeing Keith? "Yeah, sure. Why not?" he says in what he hopes is a nonchalant tone.

Jon lets out what sounds strangely like a sigh of relief before saying, "Great! Meet us at the usual spot after work?"

"I'll be there," Anderson promises before saying good-bye and hanging up. He takes a deep breath as tosses the phone on his desk.

Well, so much for no distractions today.

\-----

The moment he enters the main room of the restaurant, the first thing he sees is Keith at their usual table. Apparently no one else has arrived yet. That strikes him as odd, since Jon and Stephen are usually the first ones there, but he shrugs it off. They're probably on their way.

He takes the chair across from Keith like he usually does before he loses his nerve. "Hey."

Keith raises an eyebrow at him, as if daring him to say anything else. "Hi," is all he says.

They sit in silence for a few uncomfortable minutes, waiting for the others to show up. Anderson knows he should use the time to his advantage, but for some reason he can't bring himself to say anything. Keith looks like he'll bite his head off if he so much as says a word.

Suddenly, both of their phones beep at nearly the same time. "Finally," Keith mumbles, obviously thinking the same as Anderson – that it was Jon and/or Stephen explaining why they were so late.

Well, they were partly right.

The text he gets is from Stephen, but it doesn't say quite what he'd hoped.

 _It's time to kiss and make up now, guys. And be nice._

 _P.S. This was totally Rachel's idea._

He must realize they'd been set-up at the same moment Keith does, if the swearing from across the table is any indication. He looks up in time to see Keith shove his iPhone back in his pocket.

Keith just glares at him for a moment, like he can't decide what to do, and, yeah, now would be a very good time for Anderson to say what he needs to say. Keith might be cursing their friends to high heaven, but Anderson is thanking them, because god knows he didn't have the balls to do this himself.

But before he can work up the nerve to say anything, Keith shoves his chair back and surges to his feet.

"Typical," he mutters with an eye roll as he pulls his trench coat on, then storms out of the restaurant.

Anderson is nearly tripping over himself before he even realizes he's gotten up to follow him. He's not letting go of this chance, even if the other people in the restaurant are staring. "Keith!" he shouts, not really expecting the man to stop.

Keith ignores him as he figured he would. Anderson reaches the lobby just in time to see Keith yank the doors open and step outside into what is now pouring rain, and he realizes at that moment that Keith wasn't trying to decide what to do back at the table.

He was waiting for _Anderson_ to do something.

There can't possibly be any more ways for him to fuck this up.

Instead of banging his head against the wall, he runs outside, instantly becoming drenched. He pauses on the sidewalk, having not seen where Keith went, and he panics for a moment, thinking Keith had taken a cab.

Then he spots a tall trenchcoated figure walking down the street, hands stuffed in his pockets and hunched over from the rain. Anderson takes off running again.

"Keith!" he calls out, but the man keeps going. At this point, Anderson is pretty sure that nothing short of a full-body tackle is going to stop him, but if he lets this chance go, who the hell knows when he'll get another one. So he slows his gait, eventually stopping altogether, and says the first honest thing that comes to his head.

"I was scared."

It comes out so quietly Anderson doesn't think Keith will even hear it, but he must have because he stops in his tracks. He doesn't turn to face him, though, just turns his head to indicate he's listening.

Anderson takes a deep breath and focuses on a puddle on the ground. "I woke up in your bed and I was watching you sleep and I started thinking that...that it was _nice_ , just being there with you, and I found myself wishing it wasn't a one time thing. And as I realized that, I kind of just...panicked. Because before I hadn't even been sure if I _liked_ you and I certainly didn't think you liked me and --" He cuts himself off abruptly as he glances up and sees Keith right there. He's suddenly staring into intense gray eyes through rain-wet glasses and his words get caught in his throat.

All he can feel is water sluicing down his neck and all he can hear is what could be thunder but is probably just his heart pounding in his ears. He takes a deep, shaky breath. "I'm sorry," he finally says. "I said some really terrible things that morning. I didn't mean any of it." He chuckles weakly as he runs a hand through his wet hair nervously. "There's a reason I don't like to get angry on my show. I tend to say stupid things when I'm mad."

Keith finally speaks at that. "Why were you even mad in the first place? You acted like I just used you and was about to toss you outside with yesterday's garbage. And I didn't even --"

"I know!" Anderson interrupts. He knows what Keith was going to say, and he really doesn't want his actions thrown back in his face, even if he deserves it. "I know," he repeats, softer this time. "I wasn't mad at you, I was mad at myself for getting myself into yet another awkward situation. I just kinda lashed out at you, which was completely unfair and, again, I'm sorry."

Keith rolls his eyes. "It was only awkward because you made it awkward." Suddenly he's looking anywhere but at Anderson. "I was gonna make pancakes," he mutters.

Anderson can't help but laugh, and he feels some of the tension drain out of him. "Well, I'm definitely sorry I missed that."

Keith huffs a laugh along with him. As the laughter fades, they find themselves staring at each other again. After what feels like forever, Keith steps back and shakes his head like he doesn't know what to do.

"I don't know what to do about you, Anderson." Well, his observational skills are as sharp as ever. "A lot of people have said a lot of nasty things to me over the years, and I usually just let it bounce right off of me, but for some reason, when you're the one saying them, I can't. And that bothers me for reasons I don't care to examine at the moment."

Anderson can see the brief light-hearted moment disappearing rapidly, and he wants to yell for it not to leave him in the lurch like this. But all he can do is nod silently for Keith to continue.

"You get under my skin like no one else can, and it drives me absolutely nuts, especially since you're either oblivious to it or you don't care." Keith tugs his glasses off to wipe the rain out of his eyes.

"Keith, I --"

"Look, Anderson," Keith says around a frustrated sigh as he shoves his glasses back on. "It's late and I'm tired, not to mention cold and soaked to the bone. I can't think properly around you at the best of times, much less like this, so let's just..." He shakes his head again, then looks back up at Anderson to say, "I'll see you around, all right?"

He doesn't wait for an answer as he turns around and starts walking back down the sidewalk.

Anderson watches him go until a shiver runs through his body and he remembers he's not all that comfortable himself. Keith didn't exactly accept his apology, but he at least he tried.

With a sigh, he turns to hail a cab. It's time to go home.

\----

That Saturday afternoon, exactly a week after he woke up in Keith's apartment, he's sitting on his couch with his MacBook on his lap, feet propped up on the coffee table. He's doing research for his next 60 Minutes piece, engrossed in old AP articles, when his Blackberry rings.

He's only half paying attention when he answers, random facts and statistics still racing through his mind. He doesn't even glance at the CallerID before absently-mindedly answering. "Hello?"

"Anderson."

He almost knocks the MacBook to the floor as he sits up in shock. He'd know that voice anywhere. "Keith," he says breathlessly.

He's been trying not to think about the man for the past few days. Whatever happened next between them, if anything, had to be initiated by Keith, and he didn't like having that uncertainty hovering over his head when he couldn't do anything about it. So he'd been trying to ignore it.

Figures Keith would call the moment he'd finally succeeded.

There's a low chuckle on the other end of the line. "Were you expecting someone else?"

Anderson sets the laptop aside to stand and pace around the living room. "No, I just wasn't expecting... uh, anyway. What's up?"

Keith doesn't respond immediately, and the silence is just long enough to think that whatever Keith has to say can't possibly be good. It's not like him to hold back on what he wants to say.

"You remember when I told you that you drive me absolutely nuts?" Keith finally asks.

"Uh. Yeah," Anderson replies, wondering where the hell Keith is going with this.

"Yeah. Well, it turns out you manage to do it whether you're standing right next to me or on the other side of the planet. Which in itself drives me crazy."

Anderson shakes his head in disbelief. "So much that Rachel noticed and had to put together an intervention?"

Anderson just knows Keith's rolling his eyes right now. "Yeah, well. Maybe."

"If it's any consolation, I've been thinking about you stupid amounts, too." He hadn't even known he was going to say that, and he can feel his face heat up at the admission. He's terribly grateful Keith can't see him.

"Really? Do I drive you crazy?"

"Of course, but I kinda figured you had that effect on everybody," Anderson says with a grin.

They both laugh at that, and then there's a pause that doesn't feel forced or uncomfortable at all. Anderson still doesn't know where this is going, but he feels a whole lot better about it.

"Come to the ballgame tonight," Keith suddenly says.

Anderson blinks in surprise. "I-- what?"

"I'm going to the Yankees game tonight. I want you to come with me."

"Really?"

"Anderson," Keith speaks slowly, as if to a small child. "If you're going to drive me crazy no matter where you are, I'd much rather you did it standing next to me."

There's another pause as Anderson digests that information. From Keith, he knows it's a pretty huge thing to say. "I'm not promising I'll be good company there, but..."

"Oh, don't worry. I fully plan on teaching you the ropes. You'll be ruing _my_ company by the end."

"Ugh. This is my punishment, isn't it?" Anderson asks, knowing full well that it was.

"Part of it, at least." Anderson is surprised to hear the suggestiveness in Keith's voice. "We'll see how the rest of the night goes."

"Damn," Anderson whispers, trying not to be too obvious over how he feels about that. He clears his throat awkwardly. "Well, that depends - do I get pancakes in the morning?"

The pause this time is just long enough for Anderson to think he may have crossed a line somehow. Or completely misinterpreted Keith's comments. Then Keith finally responds. "Tell you what. You make the pancakes yourself and you've got yourself a deal."

Anderson can't hold back the giggles as he readily agrees to Keith's terms.

He's finally sure things are going to be okay.

END.


End file.
